The Sun launches internship named for former newsroom leader

The Baltimore Sun Media Group is launching a paid summer internship in honor of Mary J. Corey, the first woman to lead The Baltimore Sun newsroom.

The internship was announced Monday at a memorial dedication for Corey, who died in February of breast cancer.

The dedication was held in the news organization's Mount Vernon office, where a photograph of Corey was installed on a wall in the main lobby above pictures of The Sun's founder, Arunah S. Abell, and H.L. Mencken, the renowned Sun journalist known as the "Sage of Baltimore." Quotations from all three accompany their images.

"The internship, by providing real-world newsroom experience to an aspiring journalist, seems a fitting way to honor Mary both as a journalist and as a mentor," said Timothy E. Ryan, the Baltimore Sun Media Group's publisher, president and CEO.

Corey grew up in Cockeysville, worked on the student newspaper at Dulaney High School and graduated from what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University. She served as a college intern at The Sun and the paper later hired her in 1987 as an editorial assistant in the features department.

"Mary was a former Baltimore Sun intern herself," so she "more than anyone else knew" that an intern could rise through the paper's ranks, said Triffon G. Alatzas, who succeeded Corey as the paper's top editor.

During her tenure at The Sun, Corey took on many roles — including national correspondent, deputy national editor and assistant managing editor for features — before being named senior vice president and director of content in 2010.

Corey led the newsroom until her death at age 49. During her time at the newsroom's helm, Corey resurrected Sun Magazine, increased medical and science coverage, and promoted the paper's watchdog reporting.

"You couldn't have a finer tribute," said Margaret Quaranta, one of Corey's two sisters. Corey had hoped an internship could be named in her honor, Quaranta said.

The Baltimore Sun's Mary J. Corey Journalism Internship will be awarded annually to a rising college senior or graduate student studying journalism.

The first Corey intern will work in The Sun's newsroom during the summer of 2014. Candidates for the 10- to 12-week internship will be required to apply during the fall semester. More information is available at baltimoresun.com/internship.

"Making this internship available helps us to ensure that her legacy lives on," Ryan said.